Lessons About Scissors
14 years ago
Friday, December 21, 2012
Monday, July 2, 2012
Back home
Since I use this as much for my own personal reasons as I do to share with anyone else, you will have to excuse the length of this post. However, I want to put this up front as it is an important thing our ward learned with this: Our church mobilizes very quickly to make sure
their people are safe and to make sure they are taken care of. However,
in a situation like this, it ONLY works if they have a phone number for
you that is NOT a land line. With this in mind, I encourage all of you
to go to LDS.org and register if you haven't already and make sure your
cell phones are listed. You can filter it to only be seen by your
bishopric if you don't want your cell phone widely distributed, but please make sure they can reach you in case of an emergency. Go now.
I am happy to report that we are back in our home as of Saturday (happy birthday Kurt). We are truly grateful for my parents who allowed us to to interrupt their quiet lives with our mess for the last 3 days and for Rachael who kindly agreed to take on a 10-year-old with far too much energy on top of her 5 kids while already on her own with John out of town. Thank you so much.
Other than the smell of smoke outside our house, soot that came in the window around our air conditioning unit, and 3 bushes that were waiting to be planted on my back deck that didn't withstand the heat and no water, our home is just as we left it. The neighborhood looks a bit different with the hill across from our church blackened and nothing but sticks on the ridge of the mountain. We also have National Guard standing blockade up the street to keep people out of the evacuated areas, which feels a bit like living in a war zone.
Our hearts go out to the 346 families who lost their homes and must now start over. We still had 66 families in our ward who were evacuated from their homes as of sacrament meeting this morning. Though some were allowed to return to their homes tonight, six of those families have no home to return to. We are happy to report that our home teacher's home shown in our last post is still standing and in fact undamaged. Brother and Sister Clifford, who Mom and Dad will know, had the fire destroy everything across the street, skip over their house and damage the one next to them, but leave theirs unscathed. In fact, we had a lot of near misses in our ward. It could have been so much worse for a lot of people. The fire also interestingly burned up to the elementary school, skipped over it (it takes up more than a city block between the school and the park it sits next to) and burned houses on the other side. We has originally heard that the school had burned down. This was actually the first thing that really hit home to me and made it feel real, that the school all my kids had attended wasn't there anymore. I'm so glad that, though smoke damaged, it is unharmed.
As we are still out of our church building, we had only an hour fast and testimony meeting, but it was one I won't soon forget. I do not think there was a dry eye in the building. Testimony was by invitation only and the first one was an inspiration. She talked about how they had lost everything important to them years ago upon first coming to Colorado Springs when the van they were driving was stolen and never recovered. This time, they had some time to gather things that were important, but she has things that she regrets losing. One of those was a collection of creches. However, her grandkids have already gifted her with the beginning of a new collection. Her grandson, while asking a blessing after they had been evacuated, asked that the fire fighters be safe and put the fire out and keep Grammy and Grampy's trampoline from getting burned. She said it was interesting to see what was important in their home through the eyes of a 5-year-old. Her faith and outlook were amazing.
The second woman lost her father Saturday, the same day the fire started. Her mother and father and her own family lived in the original evacuation zone. Hours after they lost her father, all of them were forced to evacuate. She said she is sure that he was watching over them as neither home was touched. Their home was in the cul-de-sac at the end of one of the worst hit streets. Despite the fact that most of the street is destroyed, their home stands untouched.
Something like this really makes you think about what is important to you. Though there were a few things I regretted not thinking to grab (my recipe book) or not being able to get to quickly enough (so many hand-made Christmas decorations in the attic), I realized that there was nothing in our house that I would be devastated to lose, except my photo albums and my hard drive (all the pictures that aren't in the photo albums). Most of it truly is just stuff. I will say that this has given me a real incentive to work on getting my pictures digitized and backed up remotely, so that will be my next big project.
Also, I am so proud of my kids after this. Through it all, they were calm, did everything that we asked of them, and made good choices in the things that they gathered to take with them. I loved looking through the things that Nate grabbed from his room that were important to him; his pillow with the tie-dyed pillow case that he made in school, the family pictures that he had on his wall, pictures that he had drawn himself, the book of signatures he had from his last day of school, a set of pens he had gotten for Christmas, clothes, his toothbrush, his iPod, his money, and, my personal favorite, the candy and gum he had in his room. This was with almost no help from us other than instructions to gather some clothes and anything that is really important to him. No attempt to grab toys or anything like that.
I talked to my uncle a few days ago and he told me that my cousin, who lives off the Gulf of Mexico, goes through evacuations all the time for hurricanes, that it is old news to them. After going through it once, I can safely say that I have no intention of moving anywhere that this becomes a regular occurrence. No coastal areas or wooded lots for me.
At this time, we are at 55% containment on the fire and they are well on their way to having the rest of it lined, so the worst definitely appears to be over. Though we are still on pre-evacuation notice, we expect that will be lifted within the next couple of days. Thank you all for your concern and prayers over the last few days.
I am happy to report that we are back in our home as of Saturday (happy birthday Kurt). We are truly grateful for my parents who allowed us to to interrupt their quiet lives with our mess for the last 3 days and for Rachael who kindly agreed to take on a 10-year-old with far too much energy on top of her 5 kids while already on her own with John out of town. Thank you so much.
Other than the smell of smoke outside our house, soot that came in the window around our air conditioning unit, and 3 bushes that were waiting to be planted on my back deck that didn't withstand the heat and no water, our home is just as we left it. The neighborhood looks a bit different with the hill across from our church blackened and nothing but sticks on the ridge of the mountain. We also have National Guard standing blockade up the street to keep people out of the evacuated areas, which feels a bit like living in a war zone.
Our hearts go out to the 346 families who lost their homes and must now start over. We still had 66 families in our ward who were evacuated from their homes as of sacrament meeting this morning. Though some were allowed to return to their homes tonight, six of those families have no home to return to. We are happy to report that our home teacher's home shown in our last post is still standing and in fact undamaged. Brother and Sister Clifford, who Mom and Dad will know, had the fire destroy everything across the street, skip over their house and damage the one next to them, but leave theirs unscathed. In fact, we had a lot of near misses in our ward. It could have been so much worse for a lot of people. The fire also interestingly burned up to the elementary school, skipped over it (it takes up more than a city block between the school and the park it sits next to) and burned houses on the other side. We has originally heard that the school had burned down. This was actually the first thing that really hit home to me and made it feel real, that the school all my kids had attended wasn't there anymore. I'm so glad that, though smoke damaged, it is unharmed.
As we are still out of our church building, we had only an hour fast and testimony meeting, but it was one I won't soon forget. I do not think there was a dry eye in the building. Testimony was by invitation only and the first one was an inspiration. She talked about how they had lost everything important to them years ago upon first coming to Colorado Springs when the van they were driving was stolen and never recovered. This time, they had some time to gather things that were important, but she has things that she regrets losing. One of those was a collection of creches. However, her grandkids have already gifted her with the beginning of a new collection. Her grandson, while asking a blessing after they had been evacuated, asked that the fire fighters be safe and put the fire out and keep Grammy and Grampy's trampoline from getting burned. She said it was interesting to see what was important in their home through the eyes of a 5-year-old. Her faith and outlook were amazing.
The second woman lost her father Saturday, the same day the fire started. Her mother and father and her own family lived in the original evacuation zone. Hours after they lost her father, all of them were forced to evacuate. She said she is sure that he was watching over them as neither home was touched. Their home was in the cul-de-sac at the end of one of the worst hit streets. Despite the fact that most of the street is destroyed, their home stands untouched.
Something like this really makes you think about what is important to you. Though there were a few things I regretted not thinking to grab (my recipe book) or not being able to get to quickly enough (so many hand-made Christmas decorations in the attic), I realized that there was nothing in our house that I would be devastated to lose, except my photo albums and my hard drive (all the pictures that aren't in the photo albums). Most of it truly is just stuff. I will say that this has given me a real incentive to work on getting my pictures digitized and backed up remotely, so that will be my next big project.
Also, I am so proud of my kids after this. Through it all, they were calm, did everything that we asked of them, and made good choices in the things that they gathered to take with them. I loved looking through the things that Nate grabbed from his room that were important to him; his pillow with the tie-dyed pillow case that he made in school, the family pictures that he had on his wall, pictures that he had drawn himself, the book of signatures he had from his last day of school, a set of pens he had gotten for Christmas, clothes, his toothbrush, his iPod, his money, and, my personal favorite, the candy and gum he had in his room. This was with almost no help from us other than instructions to gather some clothes and anything that is really important to him. No attempt to grab toys or anything like that.
I talked to my uncle a few days ago and he told me that my cousin, who lives off the Gulf of Mexico, goes through evacuations all the time for hurricanes, that it is old news to them. After going through it once, I can safely say that I have no intention of moving anywhere that this becomes a regular occurrence. No coastal areas or wooded lots for me.
At this time, we are at 55% containment on the fire and they are well on their way to having the rest of it lined, so the worst definitely appears to be over. Though we are still on pre-evacuation notice, we expect that will be lifted within the next couple of days. Thank you all for your concern and prayers over the last few days.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Some new pictures
The smoke over the west side of town has been horrible since Tuesday. We dropped Nate off with Rachael on Wednesday and the smoke was even horrible clear out there, but it finally started to lift Wednesday afternoon and pictures have started to come out. We felt reasonably sure our home would be okay, but feel good to know that pictures of the area have reassured us that is the case.
These are some of the pictures that have struck me in the last day:
This is maybe half a mile to a mile north of us. The home in the lower right corner is our home teacher's house.
Panorama of the city the night it came down into our area:
This is what it looked like as we evacuated with the thick smoke:
As scary as these pictures look, the ones that are truly amazing came out as the smoked cleared:
The neighborhood straight west of us across Centennial the night of the fire as the fire started to come down the hill:
That same area now:
The fire came over the ridge driven by 65 mph winds. The fact that none of these homes burned is absolutely amazing to me and a real testimony to our firefighters. Officials are telling us almost nothing about what was actually lost, but we do know the Flying W Ranch was completely burned to the ground and there are probably at least 200-300 homes that were lost, but the fact that they were able to save so many is truly amazing. In the top picture, you can see our church steeple and then our neighborhood right behind it. You can see that there are scorched areas all the way to the street across from our church. As an aside, our church had to have the foundation fixed last month and every bit of vegetation that was around it was removed down to bare dirt.
We are hoping we may be able to go home by the weekend.
These are some of the pictures that have struck me in the last day:
This is maybe half a mile to a mile north of us. The home in the lower right corner is our home teacher's house.
Panorama of the city the night it came down into our area:
This is what it looked like as we evacuated with the thick smoke:
As scary as these pictures look, the ones that are truly amazing came out as the smoked cleared:
The neighborhood straight west of us across Centennial the night of the fire as the fire started to come down the hill:
That same area now:
The fire came over the ridge driven by 65 mph winds. The fact that none of these homes burned is absolutely amazing to me and a real testimony to our firefighters. Officials are telling us almost nothing about what was actually lost, but we do know the Flying W Ranch was completely burned to the ground and there are probably at least 200-300 homes that were lost, but the fact that they were able to save so many is truly amazing. In the top picture, you can see our church steeple and then our neighborhood right behind it. You can see that there are scorched areas all the way to the street across from our church. As an aside, our church had to have the foundation fixed last month and every bit of vegetation that was around it was removed down to bare dirt.
We are hoping we may be able to go home by the weekend.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Evacuated
So we have been watching the fire since it started. We have progressed over the last few days through a lot of stuff to watch:
Saturday:
Sunday:
Monday:
Tuesday:
By Tuesday, we were feeling pretty confident. The firemen had held the line on the south side of Garden of the Gods to keep it out of the residences there that have had fire licking at them since day one. They had also held it at I-24 and managed to keep it from going across. They evacuated all the homes west of us the first day and were letting them come back in for a short time Tuesday to check on their homes. They were supposed to be able to do that all day. At 11 o'clock, the wind came up and things started to change very rapidly. They told all those people to get out and they wouldn't be allowed up in their homes anymore. About noon, they issued pre-evacuation orders for all the homes north of the original group. I had been watching the smoke all day from the window. It was extremely thick over the house and we weren't able to have windows open or anything. About 3:30. it looked like this:
And then I left to go to an appointment at 4:30 and it looked like this:
I came around the corner of our street and saw this:
We started packing up not long after that and got the call to evacuate about 6 o'clock. It is kind of surreal to be packing your car and have the police come down the street with the bullhorns telling you to leave. The fire trucks were pulling in as we left. This has affected most of our ward and the pictures of the hill on fire were taken from our church parking lot.
Wednesday:
We are safe with my parents. The news this morning is that there are roughly 32,000 evacuees and the entire west side of the city has been evacuated all the way up to the Air Force Academy. The fire grew from roughly 5500 acres to 16,000 acres. The fire came into Queens Canyon north of Glen Eyrie and Garden of the Gods and has been running north of those areas, so that is good at least. We do not know how far down the hill the fire came toward us, but they did say that it did not jump Centennial, which is 2 blocks west of us. We also don't know when we might be allowed back in our home. All that can be seen of that side of the city is a huge cloud of smoke and the fire is still actively burning.
Saturday:
Sunday:
Monday:
Tuesday:
By Tuesday, we were feeling pretty confident. The firemen had held the line on the south side of Garden of the Gods to keep it out of the residences there that have had fire licking at them since day one. They had also held it at I-24 and managed to keep it from going across. They evacuated all the homes west of us the first day and were letting them come back in for a short time Tuesday to check on their homes. They were supposed to be able to do that all day. At 11 o'clock, the wind came up and things started to change very rapidly. They told all those people to get out and they wouldn't be allowed up in their homes anymore. About noon, they issued pre-evacuation orders for all the homes north of the original group. I had been watching the smoke all day from the window. It was extremely thick over the house and we weren't able to have windows open or anything. About 3:30. it looked like this:
And then I left to go to an appointment at 4:30 and it looked like this:
I came around the corner of our street and saw this:
We started packing up not long after that and got the call to evacuate about 6 o'clock. It is kind of surreal to be packing your car and have the police come down the street with the bullhorns telling you to leave. The fire trucks were pulling in as we left. This has affected most of our ward and the pictures of the hill on fire were taken from our church parking lot.
Wednesday:
We are safe with my parents. The news this morning is that there are roughly 32,000 evacuees and the entire west side of the city has been evacuated all the way up to the Air Force Academy. The fire grew from roughly 5500 acres to 16,000 acres. The fire came into Queens Canyon north of Glen Eyrie and Garden of the Gods and has been running north of those areas, so that is good at least. We do not know how far down the hill the fire came toward us, but they did say that it did not jump Centennial, which is 2 blocks west of us. We also don't know when we might be allowed back in our home. All that can be seen of that side of the city is a huge cloud of smoke and the fire is still actively burning.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Waldo Canyon Fire
So this is the view out of our front window today:
If you are familiar with Colorado Springs, this started in Waldo Canyon and is moving toward Queens Canyon (this canyon comes down into Garden of the Gods and Glen Eyrie), Highway 24, and Manitou. Manitou has been completely evacuated and the evacuation line on the west side of town ends at Centennial (2 block west of us). A large portion of our ward has been evacuated. The last number was 2800 homes evacuated. We don't think it is likely that it will jump Centennial and get to us, but it is something to watch. We are also at 100 degrees and on our way to possibly being the hottest day ever in Colorado Springs.
On a related note to my last post, Justin is spending the day with the Fire Explorers at the fire rehab center helping to prepare food and areas to rest for working firefighters.
If you are familiar with Colorado Springs, this started in Waldo Canyon and is moving toward Queens Canyon (this canyon comes down into Garden of the Gods and Glen Eyrie), Highway 24, and Manitou. Manitou has been completely evacuated and the evacuation line on the west side of town ends at Centennial (2 block west of us). A large portion of our ward has been evacuated. The last number was 2800 homes evacuated. We don't think it is likely that it will jump Centennial and get to us, but it is something to watch. We are also at 100 degrees and on our way to possibly being the hottest day ever in Colorado Springs.
On a related note to my last post, Justin is spending the day with the Fire Explorers at the fire rehab center helping to prepare food and areas to rest for working firefighters.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Fire Academy
Justin joined the local Fire Explorers program in January. In June, they had their week-long academy. The kids spend a week, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., doing classwork, hands on, and physical fitness. At the end of the week, they have practicals and then written exams. If they pass, then they can ride along with the fire department. The last day, they had a BBQ and a chance for the parents to come and see what they had been doing.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Catching Up
So far behind.
N turned 10 in March.
He played his final orchestra concert in May. He has decided he wants to try band next year instead.
J started Fire Explorers in January. They work with the fire department and once they pass the summer academy can ride along with the local departments. He is really excited about this program. He also got accepted into a program with the local community college that will allow him to take his first semester of fire sciences courses during his senior year of high school. The picture below was in the paper after the St. Patrick's Day parade. Justin is the one in the dark blue shirt on the far left.
C finished up his first year of college and is working full time. He has also been mentoring his old robotics team, which made it to nationals again by taking 1st place in the Denver regional!! He is also starting up his own little business selling parts on eBay for his girlfriend's dad. He pretty much just wants exposure for his company (they sell electronics of some kind) and wants someone to run an eBay shop for him. All C has to do is set it up and run it. The company will drop ship the parts and C gets to keep any money he makes (they are giving him the parts for free to sell). No pictures of C because we don't ever see him.
Kurt is still busy with Search and Rescue. This is the picture the local newspaper took of them bringing down a kid who fell on the Manitou Incline a couple weeks ago. They pick up an awful lot of people who can't seem to figure out that you climb up the Incline, but you come down Barr Trail, not back down the Incline.
And if I can get out from in front of my computer, I've been working in the yard. Most of it just got planted, but my clematis and bleeding hearts came in with a vengeance this spring. And the roses aren't doing too bad either. Now if I can just get all the stuff that needs to be done now done before all this needs to be trimmed back.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Halloween
We actually had all 3 kids dress up for Halloween. I don't think Chris has dressed up since he was in elementary school, but he had a party this year, so here he wearing Kurt original from way back in the 1990s (the mask and cape were bought, but everything else Kurt fixed up).
Next, we have Justin wearing a 2011 Kurt & Justin original. He and Justin spent all day working on this and got it done just before we left for Trunk or Treating at the church. They were going to make a ghost, too, but ran out of time.
And Nate wearing what could only be bought at a store.
Nate had a great time trunk or treating and then going out with the neighbor kids for Halloween. We let him carve his own pumpkin this year, too, and so he had a pretty good Halloween.
Next, we have Justin wearing a 2011 Kurt & Justin original. He and Justin spent all day working on this and got it done just before we left for Trunk or Treating at the church. They were going to make a ghost, too, but ran out of time.
And Nate wearing what could only be bought at a store.
Nate had a great time trunk or treating and then going out with the neighbor kids for Halloween. We let him carve his own pumpkin this year, too, and so he had a pretty good Halloween.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Why I can't have any pretty plants in my yard
Here is our picture of our neighbors learning the hard way why you can't plant nice plants in your front yard.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Summer is almost over
Here it is August 1st and the kids will be going back to school in just a couple short weeks. The summer has blazed by.
Nate has had a great time playing with his friends and digging the most elaborate trenches through the sand in our backyard. They then filled them with water and made a huge mess, but it was so cool, I didn't say anything.
Chris started out the summer looking for a much needed job to help pay for college this fall. He was looking at going to Atmel to work with his dad, but I have to admit I was worried about the night shifts with Chris and how he would adapt. However, in the process of calling one of the brothers in our ward who he did some work for over the Christmas break, he was offered a job working in his shop (he owns a plastic injection molding shop). He learned today that he would be able to keep it into the school year. What a blessing this was for him. He will start college in a few weeks and has been really excited since attending freshman orientation at the beginning of the summer.
Justin has had a great time doing nothing. He has put in a few applications around town, but work for a 16-year-old is hard to come by right now. He will end the summer with a spelunking trip with the young men this week.
Kurt played softball with some guys from work and talked John into joining them.
The family ended the summer with a trip to Bozeman for Kurt's family reunion.
We spent a day in Yellowstone.
The owner of the property we stayed on had horses and let all the kids ride.
We spent an afternoon at the Museum of the Rockies, which is attached to the paleontology department of MSU. We saw lots of dinosaur bones and lots of frogs.
After the museum, we played in the Hyalite Reservoir and a few of us went hiking.
The last day there, we took the kids down to the creek and played in the water
and then the kids threw flour bombs at the big guys.
And finally we drove home. And now I need another week to recuperate from vacation.
Nate has had a great time playing with his friends and digging the most elaborate trenches through the sand in our backyard. They then filled them with water and made a huge mess, but it was so cool, I didn't say anything.
Chris started out the summer looking for a much needed job to help pay for college this fall. He was looking at going to Atmel to work with his dad, but I have to admit I was worried about the night shifts with Chris and how he would adapt. However, in the process of calling one of the brothers in our ward who he did some work for over the Christmas break, he was offered a job working in his shop (he owns a plastic injection molding shop). He learned today that he would be able to keep it into the school year. What a blessing this was for him. He will start college in a few weeks and has been really excited since attending freshman orientation at the beginning of the summer.
Justin has had a great time doing nothing. He has put in a few applications around town, but work for a 16-year-old is hard to come by right now. He will end the summer with a spelunking trip with the young men this week.
Kurt played softball with some guys from work and talked John into joining them.
The family ended the summer with a trip to Bozeman for Kurt's family reunion.
We spent a day in Yellowstone.
The owner of the property we stayed on had horses and let all the kids ride.
We spent an afternoon at the Museum of the Rockies, which is attached to the paleontology department of MSU. We saw lots of dinosaur bones and lots of frogs.
After the museum, we played in the Hyalite Reservoir and a few of us went hiking.
The last day there, we took the kids down to the creek and played in the water
and then the kids threw flour bombs at the big guys.
And finally we drove home. And now I need another week to recuperate from vacation.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
May Catch-Up - Graduations & Birthdays
May was insanely busy, so I'm just now getting all caught up.
First off, we had Justin's 16th birthday. Kurt was really sick, so we took a cake to Chipotle and had dinner with John and Rachael and their kids. Because planning things with my family is really hard, he got to celebrate again 2 weeks later when we rolled his birthday, my mom's birthday, and Chris's graduation all into one celebration. He was ordained as a priest last weekend.
Lots of big events in May for Chris. We started out with his very last band concert. We have been attending these for 7 years and I have to say it was sad to go to his last one. He has been lucky to play with some really awesome, award-winning groups and it has been a lot of fun to listen to them.
Then we had the senior awards ceremony, where he was recognized for his National Merit Letter of Commendation.
Then, we had seminary graduation on the 22nd marking the end of 4 years of really early mornings and lots of good learning.
Then, on May 25, he graduated from high school. For those of you who haven't heard, he is going to be staying in town and attending the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs next year, where he is right now planning on double majoring in computer programming and electrical engineering. His goal, though, is to go into medical robotics/prosthetics. He is also planning on helping to mentor the high school robotics team next year, so he isn't escaping completely.
First off, we had Justin's 16th birthday. Kurt was really sick, so we took a cake to Chipotle and had dinner with John and Rachael and their kids. Because planning things with my family is really hard, he got to celebrate again 2 weeks later when we rolled his birthday, my mom's birthday, and Chris's graduation all into one celebration. He was ordained as a priest last weekend.
Lots of big events in May for Chris. We started out with his very last band concert. We have been attending these for 7 years and I have to say it was sad to go to his last one. He has been lucky to play with some really awesome, award-winning groups and it has been a lot of fun to listen to them.
Then we had the senior awards ceremony, where he was recognized for his National Merit Letter of Commendation.
Then, we had seminary graduation on the 22nd marking the end of 4 years of really early mornings and lots of good learning.
Then, on May 25, he graduated from high school. For those of you who haven't heard, he is going to be staying in town and attending the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs next year, where he is right now planning on double majoring in computer programming and electrical engineering. His goal, though, is to go into medical robotics/prosthetics. He is also planning on helping to mentor the high school robotics team next year, so he isn't escaping completely.
One more performance.
Almost there.
All Done!!
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